Thieves steal gas canisters from Barrington combat veteran

Tuesday

Dec 11, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By Andrea Bulfinchabulfinch@fosters.com

BARRINGTON — After a number of properties on Tolend Road were burglarized recently or incurred attempted thefts, residents in that area teamed up to offer a $1,000 cash reward for the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible.

One resident, a decorated Army combat veteran recently returned home from Afghanistan — who remains unidentified due to his employment with the federal government — was home when thieves stole five canisters of gasoline from his shed totaling about $700 sometime late Thursday evening and early Saturday morning.

“We all pooled together,” the veteran said regarding the reward being offered by him and his neighbors.

The resident's Scepter military fuel canisters were lined up behind a shed on the property and cost roughly $120 each. On Monday morning, at least two of the canisters showed up at Schnitzer Metals in Madbury where an employee recognized the military-grade jerrycans from a television news broadcast Sunday evening.

From that discovery, police in Madbury determined the suspects are likely scrap metal thieves and have a vehicle.

Etched into the canisters is the owner's last name, beginning with the initial “R.”

The thieves left a trail of footprints the victim was able to follow through neighboring lawns to a road where he suspects a vehicle had been parked.

Based on a time stamp from a home video surveillance system, the victim said he, his wife, and two small children were home during the time the canisters were stolen. “I was infuriated,” he said.

Most upsetting, he said, is that this same scenario happened a little over a year ago in July while he was deployed to Afghanistan.

“I'm almost positive it was the same crew,” he said.

The thieves weren't caught then and this time he hopes police are able to find and arrest them.

A neighbor, a retired Navy veteran, visited the resident's home on Monday while Foster's was there and said he had first noticed the doors to his shed were off their hinges and he recognized that an attempted forced entry had been made into the structure.

He also said a third neighbor reported someone had gained access to her garage.

“It's almost like an epidemic,” he said.

He said he and his wife were also home when an attempt was made to break into his shed. He also said they chose a quiet neighborhood in the New Hampshire Seacoast after “shopping” a variety of locations in the country in which to retire.

“The concept of someone being outside our bedroom windows at night is unnerving,” he said.

Anyone with information pertaining to the theft and attempted break-ins, or who wishes to report suspicious activity in the area, is asked to call the Barrington Police Department through Strafford County Dispatch at 742-4968.